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PCs Pilfered, Paralyzing Populace
Heywood Yabuzof writes "According to this Wired story, thieves in Chile caused traffic to grind to a halt when they decided to steal the computers (15 PCs and 2 servers) that control the traffic lights in Santiago. Funny how everyone worries so much about preventing "evil hackers" from breaking in to systems remotely and causing chaos, and then some burglars just go ahead and steal the critical computers to produce the same (unintended?) results."
Physical security is just as important as network security. If the admin of these servers and computers had safegaurded their physical security there wouldn't have been a problem. Hackers are just one threat...vandals must also be considered. That is why physical security is one of the 10 sections covered in the CISSP certification exam (the premeire information security certification).
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Sitting behind our screens, we sometimes forget that the entire network is actually a physical entity. We remind ourselves of it when a backhoe rips through our ISP's OC3, or when we're out of cable and can't connect our network card to our router or modem.
Well, at least I do.
Anyway, here in Poland there's a problem with people stealing cable. Not cable-tv, but telecommunication cables. Whole neighborhoods here in Warsaw have been cut off from telephony because of stolen inter-exchange cable. Railroad lights have been known to fail because of stolen equipment (this happens way too often). It's twice as bad in Russia, trust me.
Actually, at times, it seems like everything that isn't screwed or welded down in this country (this region) will get stolen. Ah... sucks pretty bad.
Not only did they steal the computers, they stole the alarm system that was supposed to protect them.
:P
The worlds most sarcastic criminals, is what we've got here
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Read the article. The traffic light were able to operate autonomously using builtin timers... What the computer did was ensure synchonization between one crossroads and the next. To make sure that when you get a green light, the lights are also green in the next few crossroads. Timers tend to drift, and hence an centralized system is necessary to keep things in sync.
And presumably the computer system also changes the timings to adapt to the differences in traffic patterns throughout the day (giving longer green periods to those directions where the most traffic is at that time). Nowadays, most city road networks operate very close to their capacity, and even little details such as the exact timing of traffic light are important to keep matters fluid.
Say no to software patents.
...for PCs on eBay that come pre-loaded with traffic controlling software.
Donate background CPU time to fight cancer.
"Ned, where did all the servers go!?!?"
"Don't worry, boss, they were all transfered over to the IBM e-server!"
"Oooooh, excellent! Ah, where exactly IS the e-server?"
"Oh, that got stolen."
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"